This CBS reality show is being accused of taking advantage of the poor

Families must decide
whether to give money to another family on CBS's "The
Briefcase."CBS

Some television critics and a lot of viewers are up in arms over
CBS's new reality series, "The Briefcase."

Detractors are saying that the show takes advantage of the poor
by forcing its financially-challenged contestants to make very
stressful decisions, and pits poor families against each other.

At this time, nearly 14,000 people have
signed an online
petition requesting that CBS cancel the
show.

It should be noted that the petition includes the
signatures of people who live outside the United States, where
the show hasn't aired.

So, what's the deal with "The Briefcase"?These contenders discover
their briefcase holds $101,000 on CBS's "The
Briefcase."CBS

The show hands a family a briefcase with $101,000. But there are
strings attached.

The family also learns of another cash-strapped family and are
given the option to keep the money or give some or all of it to
the other family. What both families don't know is that each has
been given the same amount of money and the same moral dilemma.

"In the two episodes CBS made available for review, the decision
weighs incredibly heavily on all participants. One woman is so
overcome that she vomits," wrote Vulture TV critic Margaret Lyons.

She goes on to ask, "How much struggle are we expecting everyone
to endure? And how much are we exploiting that struggle by
turning it into entertainment?"

The creator of "The Briefcase," David Broome (who also created
weight loss show "Biggest Loser"), defended his show to the
New York Post. He said the series is less about money and
more about forming connections between strangers.

“Don’t tell me this is taking poverty-stricken people and
pitting them against each other,” says a defiant Broome, who
appears on-camera giving the briefcase to the Bailey-Stewarts. “I
don’t want the media portraying it like that. We’re taking two
typical middle-class families — that’s the starting point for us
… and to see headlines about ‘poverty-stricken people being
pitted against each other’ … that’s horrifically sad and
misleading to the real poverty-stricken people in this
country.

A CBS representative declined to comment for this story.

"The Briefcase," which airs on Wednesdays, currently averages a
1.07 rating in the advertiser-coveted Adults aged 18-49 years old
and 5.7 million viewers after just three episodes.